Humidor



S. M. SAGER Nov. 14, 1950 HUMIDOR Filed July 8, 1946 I fJYZ EHTUPj0L0/VONM SAGE/P Patented Nov. 14, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEHUMIDOR Solomon M. Sager, Chicago, 111.

Application July 8, 1946, Serial No. 682,094

1 This invention relates to a humidor and more particularly to a humidorcontaining variegated moisture-liberating material, the appearance ofwhich affords a visual indication as to the moistened condition of thematerial.

In accordance with my present invention, I provide a tubular containerincluding a transparent envelope or window, through which the coloredmoisture-liberating material is visible. The wall of the envelope, orwindow, is perforated to permit liberation of moisture into the space tobe humidified, such as the interior of a tobacco pouch, or the like. Inorder to moisten the moisture-liberating material, it is merelynecessary to immerse the humidor in Water and allow it to stand untilthe color change of the material indicates that it has been saturatedwith moisture. The moisture is then given off through the openings inthe envelope or window to maintain the surrounding air in a relativelyhumid condition.

It is, therefore, an important object of this invention to provide ahumidor containing material adapted to give off moisture as required andto provide a colored material that indicates when the material is in amoist or a dry condition It is a further important object of thisinvention to provide a humidor of improved and novel construction thatcan be used in tobacco pouches and the like and that will give offmoisture vapor to maintain the desired relative humidity without,however, allowing liquid water to escape into the contents of the pouch,or the like.

Other and further important objects of this invention will be apparentfrom the disclosures in the specification and the accompanying drawings.

On the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a tobacco pouch, showing a wall thereofbroken away to indicate the positioning therein of a humidor embodyingthe principles of my invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional View of the humidor, withparts in elevation.

Figure 3 is a further enlarged sectional view taken substantially alongthe line Ill-HI of Figure 2.

The reference numeral I indicates a tobacco pouch of any conventionaltype for containing tobacco, indicated at H. A humidor, indicated by thereference numeral I2, is illustrated in its position within the pouch l0surrounded by the tobacco I I.

The humidor 12 comprises an outer casing lZa which may be made up of ametal cylinder closed 1 Claim. (Cl. 29924) 2 at its ends by means ofdisks l3 and l3a. Said enclosure disks [3 and l3a, may be press-fittedor otherwise secured in the open ends of the tubular body portion [2a.

Before closing the ends of the casing l2a, an open-ended cylindricaltube l4, preferably of transparent plastic material, is loosely fittedwithin the casing I211. and the casing then closed by the disks [3 and[3a. Said tube I4 is filled with moisture-liberating material,preferably in granular form, such as the material 15, and the wall ofsaid tube is provided with a plurality of small openings 16, some ofwhich at least register with a larger, elongated opening I! formed inthe casing lZa.

The material I5 is preferably a clay, such as fullers earth, having acapacity for absorbing a proportionately large volume of water and ofliberatingsaid water as moisture vapor under conditions of relativelylow humidity. The material I5 is also preferably colored so that its dryor moisture-saturated condition can be readily ascertained by visualinspection.

Where fullers earth is used as the moistureliberating material, afullers earth of around 16 to mesh, free of loose dust particles, ispreferred. The granules of fullers earth may be dyed in any suitablemanner, as by agitating the fullers earth in a bath of the dye dissolvedin water or alcohol. Fullers earth has the property of adsorbing the dyefrom its solution. After the fullers earth has been thoroughly mixedwith the dye solution, the earth is washed and screened over a 40-meshscreen. It is then either air or oven dried, but should not be dried toofast or heated too hot so as to destroy the dye.

In addition to the dye, a wetting agent may be added to the fullersearth, or ther moistureliberatingmaterial, to assist in wetting theearth and saturating it more quickly with water. A wetting agent such asa sulfated or sulfonated high molecular weight alcohol, as for instanceDuponol, or the like, is satisfactory. Amounts of around 1% of wettingagent by weight of the earth, or less, has been found sufiicient.

Before using the humidor, it is immersed in water to allow the granularmaterial l5 to become saturated. The water seeps into the interior ofthe tube l4 through the openings l6 and also through the loose jointsprovided around the ends of the tube l4 and the corresponding ends ofthe casing [2a. The color of the granular material 15 darkensconsiderably as water is absorbed, thereby indicating when uniformsaturation of the granular material with water has been reached.

In use, water vapor is given oiT through the openings I 6, as well asthrough the narrow clearance spaces, as indicated by the referencenumeral l8 (Figure 3) to pass out through the elongated opening I! inthe outer casing l I. The size and number of the openings [6 and theextent of the clearance space I8 are so regulated as to permit theliberation of moisture vapor at the desired rate. Since the granularmaterial l strongly binds the liquid water to itself, there is no dangerof liquid water exuding through the openings IE to wet the surroundingmaterial, such as the tobacco, unduly.

When the color of the granular material l5 indicates that it is againdry, it can be remoistened as described above and replaced in thetobacco pounch or other receptacle.

While the drawings and the de cription illustrate and describe acylindrical shaped humidor, it is to be understood that the tubular formmay be of any selected cross-sectional shape such as rectangular,triangular or hexagonal. Any-other apertured shape of outer casing maybe selected to suit requirements for enclosing 'a correspondingly shapedtransparent and apertured inner material carrying envelope or container.

It will, of course, be understood that various details of constructionmay be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles4 of this invention, and it is, therefore, not the purpose to limit thepatent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by the scope of theappended claim.

I claim as my invention:

A humidor comprising a cylindrical shell having an elongated opening andclosed ends, an open-ended transparent tube fitted in said shell andhaving moisture-liberating openings coinciding with said elongatedopening and moistureliberating material contained within said shell,said moisture-liberating material consisting essentially of granularclay capable of liberating absorbed moisture, a wetting agent and a dyecapable of undergoing a color change as the moisture content of the claydecreases.

SOLOMON M. SAGER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Ayers, Jr. Dec. '7, 1943

